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Sumit SinghalSumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

OLYMPIC ENERGY CENTRES in London, UK by John McAslan + Partners

“The new Energy Centres for the 2012 London Olympics champion power generation as an integral presence in two East London communities – two vital pieces of utilities infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and ensuing Legacy. The practices response is distinct in both form and function – a strong 21st Century industrial aesthetic.”
SIR JOHN ARMITT
CHAIRMAN, OLYMPIC DELIVERY AUTHORITY

In the 20th century, London’s monumental temples of power, such as those at Bankside and Battersea, consumed mountains of coals and countless tankers of oil to keep the capital’s buildings warm and well lit. But their apparent modernity was false and environmentally calamitous. The Olympic Energy Centres signal an entirely new and transparent approach to energy generation, driven by technical and architectural innovations that will change the way Londoners live, breathe and value their environment.

The Energy Centres will serve the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and future Legacy buildings with heat, power and cooling, utilising:

At the start of this new century, more than half of our planet’s population lives in cities. Today’s technological capabilities offer us the means and the responsibility to model the cities of tomorrow sustainably.

The delivery of the Olympic Energy Centres will ensure a legacy of green power for generations to come. This facility sets a model for other future urban regeneration schemes – an efficient, low carbon system: a breath of fresh air.

“The Energy Centre will be at the heart of the new utilities networks in the Olympic Park, powering the site during the Games and providing energy to local communities in legacy. Sustainability runs right through this project and our energy centre plans will ensure the Games deliver the lasting legacy of a sustainable energy supply for this part of east London.”

We believe that buildings should be underpinned by a powerful idea; that the idea should be an intelligent and logical response to functionality and a sense of place; and the power of that idea should be embedded in the built form. That way, clients get the buildings they need and society gets the architecture it deserves.

We believe that the city is one of humanity’s most impressive and precious cultural achievements. We also believe that cities are more than a collection of buildings; cities are about connections, transport, communications, public spaces and joy. We believe in locating our buildings firmly into their contexts – not as slavish repetition but as a considered response to site, materiality, amenity, scale and culture.